The current phase of AI is one that is prone to confusion and even pessimism, just like the Internet experienced in 2000, Baidu Chairman and CEO Robin Li said today.
Li said these words at the opening ceremony of the 3rd World Conference on Artificial Intelligence. He said that the current stage that AI is experiencing is a necessary stage for most disruptive technologies to go through before they accelerate in popularity.
As the Internet experienced in the years after 2000, some companies disappeared and some people left the industry for good.
But when the fog cleared, an era of full Internetization of the economy and society began, and the little guys who survived the winter became the new hero, he claims.
Li proposed three stages of AI development: the technically intelligent stage, the economically intelligent stage, and the socially intelligent stage.
"We are currently in a period of transition from the first half of economic intelligence to the second half, where artificial intelligence has proven or tentatively proven the potential to disrupt and reconfigure their industries," said Li.
He believes that China's "New Infrastructure" program, which is being aggressively pursued today, can be seen as the first step towards the smart economy and smart society.
"It holds great promise to spearhead the trend of AI's popularization in China."
